The Influence of Working Memory on ELL (English as a Second Language) Children’s Literacy

• In Event: Poster Session 19
  In Poster Session: Cognitive Processes and Self-Regulated Learning

Abstract

This study explored whether the contribution of working memory (WM) to children’s (N=471) second language (L2) reading and language acquisition was best accounted for by processing efficiency at a phonological level and/or to executive processes independent of phonological processing. Elementary school children whose first language was Spanish were administered a battery of cognitive (short-term memory [STM], working memory [WM], rapid naming, random letter and number generation), vocabulary, and reading measures in both Spanish and English. Hierarchical regression showed that both STM and WM contributed unique variance to L2 reading and language acquisition beyond the contribution of L1 phonological processing skills.

Authors

• H. Lee Swanson, University of California - Riverside

• Cathy Lussier, University of California

• Michael John Orosco, University of Kansas

• Danielle Guzman-Orth, Educational Testing Service

• Michael M. Gerber, University of California - Santa Barbara